Enjoy this delicious Tres Leches Cake recipe that is a classic dessert perfect for any occasion! This features a light and airy sponge cake soaked with three types of milk - condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream - and topped with a fluffy whipped cream frosting.
Table of Contents
What is Tres Leches Cake?
Tres Leches Cake is a Latin American dessert known for its moist and tender texture. It is a sponge cake soaked in a mixture of three different types of milk, namely condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream, resulting in a creamy and decadent treat.
Ingredients and substitutions for Tres Leches Cake
- Eggs: The eggs add structure and bind everything together and are the core to our cake.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar dissolves into our cake and add sweetness without additional flavors to the cake.
- Plain flour: Plain flour or all purpose is best to give the cake it’s light texture and nice crumb. You also don’t want to overwork the batter so you don’t end up with a firm cake texture.
- Milk: Whole milk was used. You could substitute with creamy non dairy milk. The thinnest of the three milks, this helps balance out the richness of the other two and helps the three milks soak into your cake best.
- Sweetened condensed milk: The milk adds creaminess and sweetness to balance out the richness of the evaporated milk.
- Evaporated milk: This has less moisture than regular milk so will soak into the light cake better.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract helps give our the cake it's signature flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Tres Leches Cake:
Step 1: Whip the whites: Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar in stages, until stiff peaks form and the sugar has dissolved.
Step 2: Whip the yolks: Whip the egg yolks until pale and doubled in size and add in the vanilla extract.
Step 3: Fold it: Fold the fluffy egg yolks into the egg whites.
Step 4: Flour: Add the flour to the eggs and gently fold until combined.
Step 5: Bake: Spoon the batter into your baking dish and bake until golden and a skewer comes out clean, set aside to cool.
Step 6: Poke it: Poke the cooled cake with a fork all over.
Step 7: Tres leches time: Mix the three milks in a pourable bowl and slowly and steadily pour over the cake until fully soaked.
Step 8: Refrigerate: Set aside to soak fully.
Step 9: Whip the cream: Whip the cream until soft peaks form and smear over the whole cake.
Step 10: Serve: Slice and serve...dig in!
FAQ's for the Tres Leches Cake
Stirring/folding the flour into the whipped eggs is a slow process as the flour will clump up and you might have no visible patches of flour remaining on the edges of your bowl, but there might be portions remaining in the center of the batter. So just go slow in a big O shape from one edge of your bowl to the other and then turning the bowl slightly to make sure it's completely mixed through without losing the volume in your eggs.
Keep refrigerated when not serving, and this will keep covered for up to 3 days (if everyone doesn't eat it swiftly).
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Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 440 grams / 8 large eggs room temperature and separated
- 125 grams / ⅔ cup superfine/caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 320 grams / 2 cups plain flour
Three Milk Sauce
- 397 milliliters / 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 340 milliliters / 1 ½ cups - 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
- 240 grams / 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 340 grams / 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 25 grams / ¼ cup confectioners/icing sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Grease a baking dish with butter and preheat the oven to 180°C/350F.
- Place the egg whites into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form, for approximately 5 minutes with a hand beater.
- Slowly add in the sugar a tablespoon or two at a time and beat further until the egg whites hold stiff peaks and they look slightly glossy (the sugar will have dissolved by this point).
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until they have doubled in size and are a pale yellow, approximately 6 minutes with a hand beater.
- Add in the vanilla extract to the egg yolks and beat a further minute to fully combine.
- Fold the egg yolks into the egg whites gently, until fully combined.
- Add in the flour and fold carefully and gently until a smooth batter has formed and no dry patches remain in the bowl.
- Pour into your baking dish and smooth out to evenly spread over the whole baking dish.
- Place in the oven and bake until lightly golden on top, approximately 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool fully in your baking tray.
Three Milk Sauce
- To make the milk soak, place the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, milk and vanilla extract into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a fork or skewer.
- Carefully and evenly pour the three milks over the cake, allowing time for the mixture to sink in.
- Refrigerate to soak in for at least 30 minutes.
- Whip the cream with the sugar until soft peaks form and spread over the cake.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- Milk: Whole milk was used. You could substitute with creamy non dairy milk. The thinnest of the three milks, this helps balance out the richness of the other two and helps the three milks soak into your cake best.
- Sweetened condensed milk: The milk adds creaminess and sweetness to balance out the richness of the evaporated milk.
- Evaporated milk: This has less moisture than regular milk so will soak into the light cake better.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract helps give our the cake it's signature flavor.
- Baking dish: A large baking dish 23x33cm or 9x13 inches works best here that your cake can bake and soak in.
- Make ahead: Keep refrigerated when not serving, and this will keep covered for up to 3 days (if everyone doesn't eat it swiftly).
Nutrition
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